A Novel Study Quantifies Who is Missing from Cardiovascular Clinical Research

“LDI Senior Fellows Rachel Kohn, Alisa J. Stephens-Shields, Alexander C. Fanaroff, Scott D. Halpern, Meghan B. Lane-Fall and colleagues analyzed randomized clinical trials on cardiovascular disease and risk factors published between 2017 and 2022 to understand and quantify the representation of female, Black, and Hispanic/Latinx populations. The researchers screened about 2,300 trials, identifying 58 that met inclusion criteria, encompassing almost 124,000 total participants…

The authors found that 19 of 22 of the trial groups that could be analyzed showed underrepresentation of female, Black, and Hispanic/Latinx patients. None of the populations were overrepresented in any group of trials. Specific subgroups were more representative in some trial groups, including female patients in stroke trials, Black patients in hyperlipidemia trials, and Hispanic/Latinx patients in heart failure trials.”

Read more at Penn LDI.